


The Sweetest Thing

by Valaks



Category: Alex Rider - Anthony Horowitz
Genre: Alex kneads a hug, Bakery AU, Bundt really, Healthy Coping, Kinda, Life is what you bake of it, Perfectionist Alex, Some mentions of torture but it’s fine really, The Bakery AU this fandom kneads, Wait I already used that one, Wholesome Obsessive Baking, Yassen just....rolling with the punches, a touch of angst, of a sort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-07
Updated: 2020-10-07
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:28:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26876680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Valaks/pseuds/Valaks
Summary: Yassen learned to cook at Malagosto, restaurants are prime locations for an assassination and blending in to an ever changing kitchen staff is easy if you’re competent. Sweets are not something he seeks. He does keep a bar of dark chocolate in the house but he nibbles on it as an afterthought once in a blue moon. Never too much indulgence. All that changed when he brought home a burned out, broken, world weary, now former MI6 spy.
Comments: 14
Kudos: 138





	The Sweetest Thing

**Author's Note:**

  * For [galimau](https://archiveofourown.org/users/galimau/gifts).



On paper Alex Rider was a marvel - teenage spy of 4 years with a perfect field record. But the price he had paid for that had been steep - the wounds from the cell he had pulled Alex out of took weeks to heal, it took months longer for him to start sleeping properly, and the rest of the healing may never happen. Yassen wouldn’t rush it, Alex could have as long as he wanted to. He had earned that much. If the intelligence agencies wouldn’t give it to him, Yassen would. 

Once Alex had been coherent enough to listen to the rules they had been simple - clean up after yourself and don’t call attention to us. Other than that there were no expectations - he was free to come and go as he pleased, if he wanted anything, Yassen had provided him access to his accounts. He trusted Alex to be sensible, if he was mature enough to survive in their world, he was mature enough to handle a credit card. He shouldn’t have been surprised when Alex had demanded to know what he wanted. It was a common question in their business and one he had probably learned to ask the hard way. Thankfully, it was an easy answer - nothing. It had led to a harder question - why? John Rider would probably have sufficed as an answer but Yassen had long since paid off that debt and he didn’t have the patience for lying anymore. Alex wouldn’t believe the real answer, but that was his problem. In reality, Yassen simply didn’t think Alex deserved to be in his position and when a contact tipped him off that Alex had been captured….he didn’t really have any reason  _ not _ to get him out. So he had extracted him. Yassen would give him the tools to heal, after that if he wanted to stay, he could; if he wanted his own documents to go into hiding Yassen had the contacts; if he wanted to go back to MI6 Yassen would disapprove, but that was his choice. When he had offered up that option Alex had laughed, dark and bitter with just the slightest hint of mania. That was when Yassen had realized how long of a road ahead of them they had...and found he didn’t mind the idea all that much. He needed a hobby, putting Alex back together would suffice. 

The first few months had been rough Alex had a brutal physical therapy schedule that made him sore and frustrated at not being able to do the things he used to which, in turn, caused Alex to fall deeper into the throes of the PTSD he refused to acknowledge having. Yassen hadn’t said anything when he had snapped at him about not needing a therapist, just let it go. Alex would come to the realization himself. The realization hit when Yassen had pulled Alex half naked out of a snowdrift at 4 in the morning. He had spent  _ hours _ bringing his body temperature back to normal while convincing Alex that yes, they were both very much alive, and no, they were not at Point Blanc and he had no intention of dissecting him. It had led to a very, very long discussion of Alex’s missions because keeping Alex awake meant keeping Alex talking. The next morning Alex had quietly asked for the help Yassen had originally offered and Yassen had arranged it without a word. 

Alex healed. It was slow, but he did. 

He had expected Alex to get bored and leave at some point. But every morning Yassen still woke up to the pungent smell of coffee and Alex tinkering with his newest hobby while he waited to go on their morning run. His insomnia meant he needed to keep himself occupied and there was only so much exercise he could do, which had led to an ever changing set of hobbies. He had quickly mastered small engine repair, so he could fix the elderly neighbor’s snow blower. Knitting had kept his hands busy but not his mind so it was over quickly, fishing had been the same. Hunting and shooting were not even an option, he carefully avoided the guns Yassen had stashed around the house and had only accepted the one in his room because Yassen had made it a condition of him staying. Woodworking had come and gone as soon as Alex needed to use a power drill. He had tried but...there were obviously memories. Yassen didn’t ask and Alex didn’t offer.

Yassen handled cooking their meals but after the drill incident he had roped Alex in to give him something to do. He had caught on quickly but tended to be more….loose with ingredients than Yassen was. He had let it slide and, after a few days, when Alex had came back to himself enough to jokingly ask what was for pudding he had returned it with a wry smile and a “whatever you make”.

Something must have clicked because the next day Alex was back with flour and sugar and cake tins and all manner of sweets. A new hobby. Unsurprising. He’d have to share the kitchen for a while but so long as Alex cleaned up after himself it wouldn’t be a problem. 

Alex started out simple - basic cakes and frostings. They weren’t anything pretty or fancy but if it kept his interest it was only a matter of time. Yassen had learned quite a bit about Alex over the last several months. His hobbies had brought out a side of him that Yassen really shouldn’t be surprised over - Alex Rider was a perfectionist. Obsessively so. It wasn’t a trait that would have shown in his line of work where it was all split second decisions and going with your instincts. Normally he would say it would make him a fantastic assassin but with the level of obsession Alex showed he probably would have gotten in his own way. For baking though it was perfect - Alex could almost always be found bouncing around the kitchen taking notes on temperature and baking soda and baking powder, and the effects of softening the butter at hour increments and how long to cream it for, experimenting with different brands of sugar and whether adding it in slowly or incrementally changed the texture or taste, sifting the flour once or twice or seven times to see if it made a difference.

It took him a week to finally declare that he had perfected his vanilla cake recipe. Only then had he allowed Yassen to sample it, watching with eager eyes almost vibrating with energy - it was good, much better than his first moist and spongy and perfect. He had told Alex as much and received a breathtaking smile. Alex hadn’t had much reason to smile for years. He had been happy when he figured out his latest puzzle in a hobby but this, this was something entirely different. Maybe he really had enjoyed the challenge or maybe he was proud of his results. Probably both but Yassen imagined the praise and getting to share it with Yassen had a hand in it as well. He wasn’t a sweets man, a nibble of dark chocolate was his only real vice, but to see that smile again, Yassen could learn. 

**Author's Note:**

> There’s like 10,000 words of this fic thanks to Galimau and it really is the sweetest thing


End file.
